On March 14, Dr Kiumars Zarafshani presented his work at Wageningen University as guest of ECS at the occasion of the doctoral dissertation defence of Saeid Noroozi. Dr Zarafshani actively helps students in higher agricultural education to start up agri-business enterprises for self-employment. This way they can create a livelihood in a sector otherwise without much employment opportunities. Continue reading Dr Kiumars Zarafshani presented at ECS

The call for WU sandwich PhD’s applications has opened. The deadline for proposals is set on Friday, May 16^th 2014. Applications must be sent in by email to Dr. ir. Henrieke de Ruiter (henrieke.deruiter@wur.nl), through sendit: https://sendit.wur.nl/Secure/  Please keep in mind that candidates must meet all of the eligibility requirements. See further website: http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/PhD-Programme/Categories-of-PhD-Candidates/Sandwich-PhD-Candidates.htm

 

The article ‘Exploring the Validity and Robustness of a Competency Self-Report Instrument for Vocational and Higher Competence-Based Education’ by Anne E. Khaled, Judith T. M. Gulikers, Hilde Tobi, Harm J.A. Biemans, Carla Oonk, and Martin Mulder (2014). Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, p. 1-12, is published online. The paper can be found at http://jpa.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/02/28/0734282914523913

 

The article “Searching for entrepreneurs among small business ownermanagers in agriculture” by Thomas Lans et al is finally published in NJAS, and available online. See http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1573521413000687

Wageningen Bachelor programmes have been assessed by the Choice Guide Universities as being the best in the Netherlands for the last nine years. Since 2010 the Master programmes are being assessed and this week 20 Master programmes of Wageningen were assessed as being of top quality. This is the third year in a row that the Wageningen Master programmes are being assessed as the best in the Netherlands.

There is only little empirical research on the quality of incompany training projects provided by external training companies. In the late 1990s a group of training companies commissioned research into this. A standardized questionnaire was developed and completed by internal training project commissioners. Continue reading Quality of in-company training projects: the power is in the preparation

Martin Mulder is Visiting Professor at Toulouse Business School. He is also a member of the Scientific Committee of the International conference on Skills for the Future – Training, employment, occupations and employability in turbulent times, which will be held in Toulouse, France, on 18-19 September 2014. The deadline for submitting paper proposals (500) is April 30, 2014. For further information: see http://www.tbs-education.fr/en/research-faculty/international-conference-skills-future

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Martin Mulder is appointed in the Academic Board of NCOI (www.ncoi.nl). NCOI is the leading training and education organization in the private sector in the Netherlands. Mulder will be active in the research domain ‘Education’. In this domain Lector Dr Loes Houweling is working for the Master Special Education Needs (Master SEN) and Lector Dr Martijn van Schaik for the Masters Educational Science (Master Onderwijskunde), and Education and Development (Master Learning & Development). See further: http://www.ncoi-onderzoeksinstituut.nl/over-ons/academic-board/prof-dr-martin-mulder.html and http://www.ncoi-onderzoeksinstituut.nl/opleidingen/master-onderwijskunde.html. Mulder can utilize his expertise in educational practice, research and management in this position.

Lans, T., M.A. van Galen, J.A.A.M. Verstegen, H.J.A. Biemans and M. Mulder (2014). Searching for entrepreneurs among small business ownermanagers in agriculture. In: NJAS – Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences. Download from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1573521413000687
Mark article history: Received 8 June 2009; Received in revised form 21 July 2011; Accepted 3 December 2013; Published: 2014.

Continue reading New article in press on entrepreneurship among small business ownermanagers

The ECS article below is published online in Computers in Human Behavior as:

Vitaliy Popov, Omid Noroozi, Jennifer B. Barrett, Harm J.A. Biemans, Stephanie D. Teasley, Bert Slof, Martin Mulder (2014). Perceptions and experiences of, and outcomes for, university students in culturally diversified dyads in a computer-supported collaborative learning environment. Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 32, March 2014, Pages 186–200.

‘Abstract

The introduction of computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL), specifically into intercultural learning environments, mirrors the largely internet-based and intercultural workplace of many professionals. This paper utilized a mixed methods approach to examine differences between students’ perceptions of collaborative learning, their reported learning experiences, and learning outcomes when they collaborated in a CSCL environment working with a culturally similar or dissimilar partner. Culturally diverse student dyads worked together to perform an online learning task in the domain of life sciences. Our sample of 120 BSc and MSc students was comprised of 56 Dutch and 64 international students, representing 26 countries. The results showed that students from an individualist cultural background had a more negative perception of collaborative learning than did students with a collectivist background, regardless of group composition. For women, working in a culturally similar dyad consisting of students from an individualist cultural background resulted in a more negative perception of collaborative learning than did working in this type of group for men or women working in a culturally similar dyad consisting of students from a collectivist cultural background. Students from an individualist cultural background achieved better learning outcomes than did students with a collectivist background, regardless of group composition. These findings suggest that cultural background adds an important dimension to collaborative learning, which requires students to manage collaboration that is not only virtual but also intercultural.’

Abstract copied from original publication as published in Computers in Human Behavior’.